Tonewood Brewing Is Coming to Oaklyn

Oaklyn is getting a brand new brewery called Tonewood Brewing, which will be run by two brothers, with a projected opening date of Tuesday, June 7.

Brewmaster and co-founder Eli Facchinei comes to Oaklyn from Telluride, Colorado, where he worked as a brewer with the Telluride Brewing Company. Along with his brother Taylor, the Atco native landed back in the area and settled on Oaklyn for their brewery.

“Word got out that we were looking for a spot and the Mayor of Oaklyn, Rob Forbes, contacted me — and at the same time a building owner in Oaklyn did as well,” says Eli. “As it turned out, Oaklyn had everything I could have ever dreamed of; an up and coming walking downtown and a warehouse building right in the middle of it screaming for a brewery.”

Tonewood comes from a music term that describes the wood used to make an instrument. “Instruments, acoustic instruments in particular, have always played a huge role in my family’s life,” says Facchinei. “We have always come together around music, whether it be playing it, enjoying it, or the admiring the artisans who craft the instruments. We feel there is a lot craft brewers and luthiers have in common, and 'Tonewood' is at the core of this idea.”

With an anticipated opening of June 7, the Facchinei brothers are gearing to present their 55-seat brewery. They will also break ground on a beer garden in the summer to add another 30 seats. Their goal is to provide a selection to drinkers of all kinds. That includes an American pale ale, American amber ale, IPA, porter, and Mexican style lager for their opening. Eli also plans to start brewing his specialty Belgian style beers, and will be barrel aging those varieties. He’s also started aging a handful of sour barrels to debut in several weeks.

“Right now, we’re just brewing like crazy trying to get as much variety ready for the opening,” he says. “Our big thing is going to be variety, so trying to have a good selection on opening has been tough, but barring any unforeseen production issues, we will have a good initial offering.”